Apple continues to dominate as the platform of choice among mobile buyers, with iOS representing 54 percent of all phone orders and 80 percent of tablet transactions as the market approaches $50 billion this year.

Mobile now accounts for over one third of online shopping

Data compiled by the Custora E-Commerce Pulse covering 70 million consumers and $10 billion in transaction revenue at 100 retailers shows that mobile devices are increasingly displacing the online shopping that was virtually all (97 percent) performed using desktop PCs just four years ago (below).

Since then, e-commerce visits by phone have jumped from less than 4 percent to almost 25 percent, while tablets now account for just over 12 percent of site visits, leaving conventional PCs with 63 percent share.

The market is also growing dramatically, with Custora outlining an 111 percent 4 year Compound Annual Growth Rate, ramping from $2.2 billion in 2010 to $7.9B in 2011, $21.2B in 2012 and $42.8B in 2013.

This year, "it's likely that mobile e-commerce will hit $50 billion in sales," the firm stated, given first quarter revenues of $12.2 billion.

Mobile conversion rates still trail PCs, indicating that users frequently shop from their phone, but often place their orders later using PCs. While mobile devices made up almost 37 percent of site visits, they accounted for only 23 percent of online orders and just over 18 percent of revenue.

The firm's data also indicates that smartphones and tablets are also being used differently: while two thirds of mobile visits come from phones, the orders originating on both are closer to being tied, while tablets actually outpaced phones in the amount of revenue they drive.

The average number of minutes tablet users spent shopping at a site (3:16) were also closer to PC visits (3:39), compared to the shorter average visits by phone users (2:13).

Apple's iPhone and iPad are dominating e-commerce

"Apple's mobile supremacy remains," Custora stated, while noting that it "continues to be challenged, most notably by Samsung and more recently, Amazon."

The firm depiction of Apple's share among phones (above) suggests that iPhones are losing ground, with the company stating that iOS "orders went down from 75.1% in January 2012 to 53.6% as of March 2014."

However, the firm's numbers also show that Apple's current share among phones is greater than its lowest point in 2012, recorded after the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S3. Conversely, Samsung hasn't significantly improved its share since then, even as Amazon, Google, Microsoft's Windows Phone and everyone else have seen their collective share of orders amongst phones fall to below 16 percent.

In tablets, Apple's iPad maintains an even larger lead (above). Samsung tablets now represent just 12 percent of orders, while Amazon Kindle Fire tablets represented just over 4 percent, a notable figure given that company's strategic focus that almost exclusively targets online sales.

Google's tablets get a lot of media attention, but their users only placed just over 1 percent of online orders, while tablets from everyone else (including Microsoft's Surface) amounted to less than 3 percent.

Overall, throughout May 2014 Custora reported that Apple's iOS represented 78 percent of all mobile e-commerce orders, while all devices incorporating some form of Android software represented 22 percent. Other mobile platforms recorded less than 1 percent of order activity.

Google's tablets get a lot of media attention, but their users only placed just over 1 percent of online orders, while tablets from everyone else (including Microsoft's Surface) amounted to less than 3 percent.

So Android tablets are responsible for just over 1 percent?

Yeah, Android is winning all right.

And some people get mad when I claim that Android users in general are poor people.

They boast about how many activations they have, and how many units they sell (or should I say ship), yet, nobody seems to be using them. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

And some people get mad when I claim that Android users in general are poor people.

They boast about how many activations they have, and how many units they sell (or should I say ship), yet, nobody seems to be using them. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

One has to think that the people who are using Android tablets are not using them to go online. They're using them for reading, running apps, playing games or watching videos. There are probably people in various parts of the world who don't have online access due to lack of WiFi or maybe those who feel safer using a desktop computer to due transactions. If Apple were really aggressive, they'd create their own search engine or acquire one and use that as the default instead of Google search. Android users are not the ones making Google rich. Google has latched onto iOS and taking plenty of money away from Apple. Google gets far more respect from Wall Street than Apple but Apple could snatch a good deal of revenue from Google any time it wants to but Wall Street doesn't see that.

One has to think that the people who are using Android tablets are not using them to go online. They're using them for reading, running apps, playing games or watching videos. There are probably people in various parts of the world who don't have online access due to lack of WiFi or maybe those who feel safer using a desktop computer to due transactions. If Apple were really aggressive, they'd create their own search engine or acquire one and use that as the default instead of Google search. Android users are not the ones making Google rich. Google has latched onto iOS and taking plenty of money away from Apple. Google gets far more respect from Wall Street than Apple but Apple could snatch a good deal of revenue from Google any time it wants to but Wall Street doesn't see that.

So, everywhere there is Internet access, Apple is proven to be winning. Wouldn't that also means that they're doing very well in areas without the Internet? But it's an interesting theory, not much to back it up. Could just as easily be attributed to low quality android handsets, I owned one myself that was so slow I couldn't do anything much on it. As far as Internet search goes, they've already made bing the default search in Siri and Safari if I'm correct, I wonder what difference that's making?

One has to think that the people who are using Android tablets are not using them to go online. They're using them for reading, running apps, playing games or watching videos. There are probably people in various parts of the world who don't have online access due to lack of WiFi or maybe those who feel safer using a desktop computer to due transactions. If Apple were really aggressive, they'd create their own search engine or acquire one and use that as the default instead of Google search. Android users are not the ones making Google rich. Google has latched onto iOS and taking plenty of money away from Apple. Google gets far more respect from Wall Street than Apple but Apple could snatch a good deal of revenue from Google any time it wants to but Wall Street doesn't see that.

Also, if the reason android users weren't ordering online because they're the primary choice in low income areas without the Internet, that would be a very good explanation for android. But, it's also not right because, for 80% of the android phones sold, 65% would have to be without Internet for that to make sense. So that would essentially be saying, the reason that android users don't make as many purchases, is because 80% of android users don't have the Internet yet. So, there's an issue with the theory.

One has to think that the people who are using Android tablets are not using them to go online. They're using them for reading, running apps, playing games or watching videos. There are probably people in various parts of the world who don't have online access due to lack of WiFi or maybe those who feel safer using a desktop computer to due transactions. If Apple were really aggressive, they'd create their own search engine or acquire one and use that as the default instead of Google search. Android users are not the ones making Google rich. Google has latched onto iOS and taking plenty of money away from Apple. Google gets far more respect from Wall Street than Apple but Apple could snatch a good deal of revenue from Google any time it wants to but Wall Street doesn't see that.

Ridiculous theory.

This is about the fact that of all mobile shopping a small percentage was done using an Android device. It's irrelevant as to whether they used WiFi, LTE or 3G to get online - they clearly have some way to connect.

Android tablets are likely somewhat over 14%, over 700% of where they were in 2012 and gaining at a fairly good clip. Apple is still has the dominant share, declining from a whopping 98% down to less than 80%.

Android tablets are likely somewhat over 14%, over 700% of where they were in 2012 and gaining at a fairly good clip. Apple is still has the dominant share, declining from a whopping 98% down to less than 80%.

I realize that. It is just as easy to take a given data set and make it sound positive for either side. Apple has good, solid numbers, they just are not as good as they were two years ago. DED does a pretty good job of maximizing the positive side for Apple, which is his job. His readers often confuse what he said and misrepresent it in their comments- and other users then pile on that as if it is what was actually said. It happens pretty often- so either DED is deliberately trying to misinform his readers, or he does a poor job of communicating- take your pick.

See Apple II claiming DED said 'Android tablets are responsible for only 1%' and then Constable going along with that =p

DED actually did not say that in his article, and indeed made a correct statement.

Sometimes DED just actually gets it wrong, like 'iPad retains 80% of online orders' when the iPad has closer to 7.4% of online orders....